§ 2-293. Membership and organization.

(a)

Each Council member will be charged with the responsibility of serving the best interests of the arts and sciences in the County within the purposes of this article, and no Council member shall view his or her Council role to be that of representing any particular geographic area of the County, interest group, arts or science institution, community organization, or audience.

(b)

(1)
The Council shall consist of fifteen (15) members. No person shall be qualified to sit as a member of the Cultural Arts Council if he or she is a salaried Manager, administrator or director of any cultural organization in Miami-Dade County. Each Council member: (i) shall be affiliated with one or more local cultural organizations, (ii) shall be an active member of one or more charitable, educational or other organizations which provide community benefits, (iii) shall have relevant professional experience or (iv) shall possess stature within the community.

(2)

Vacancies on the Council shall be filled by the County Commission. The members shall be appointed for staggered terms. Each board member shall be appointed to a term which shall end concurrently with the last day of the term of the County Commissioner who appointed the Board member, as provided in Section 2-38.2 of this Code. If a vacancy occurs prior to the expiration of the Board member's term, the County Commissioner who appointed that member shall appoint a new member to fill the balance of the term. Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, the Council's fifteen (15) members shall consist of thirteen (13) members appointed by individual Commissioners and two (2) members appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to a term of four (4) years. Individual Commissioners shall each appoint one (1) member until thirteen (13) members shall have been appointed by individual Commissioners. The next two (2) appointments shall be made by the Board of County Commissioners. In filling any vacancy to be filled by the Commission, the County Commission shall select the replacement Council member from a list of three (3) candidates to be submitted by the remaining members of the Council. In the event that none of the three (3) candidates suggested meets Commission approval, the Council shall submit another and entirely different list for Commission consideration. This process shall continue until a suitable replacement has been found to fill the existing or anticipated vacancy.

(3)

The Council shall endeavor to make the public aware of any vacancy which occurs, or which is expected, by complying with the notice and publication requirements established in subsection (f) of this section. The Council shall then receive open nominations from citizens of Miami-Dade County before submitting any list of candidates to the County Commission. As any vacancies occur, the Council shall furnish the Board of County Commissioners with a list of the qualifications and demographic backgrounds of the present members of the Council.

(c)

All members of the Council shall be qualified electors residing in the County.

(d)

No Council member shall serve more than eight (8) consecutive years on the Council; provided that this limitation shall not be applicable to Council members with unexpired terms on November 1, 1993 who were reappointed after that date. Nothing shall prohibit any individual from being reappointed to the Council after a hiatus of two (2) years.

(e)

No Council member may receive compensation for his or her services, but the council may approve reimbursement for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of a member's duties.

(f)

For purposes of this section, notice and publication requirements shall be deemed to have been met by advertisement three (3) consecutive days in a newspaper of County-wide circulation at least fourteen (14) days prior to the taking of the intended action.

(Ord. No. 76-34, § 3, 4-20-76; Ord. No. 89-106, § 1, 11-7-89; Ord. No. 94-06, §§ 1, 2, 1-18-94)